A new film by Sea Children, directed by Ayumu Watanabe, will be released in cinemas this Wednesday. All you need to know is luck smiles on Ms. Nikuko.
ᲨᲔᲡᲐᲮᲔᲑᲐᲐ ᲨᲔᲡᲐᲮᲔᲑᲐᲐ?
Nikuko is a fat and proud single mother, full of life desire and longing – a real outrage for Japanese patriarchal culture! She loves to eat, jokes and has weaknesses towards men she does not always deserve. After spending half his life wandering with his daughter Kikurin, he settled in a small fishing village and found work in a traditional restaurant. Kikurin does not want to be like his mother and his relationship with Nikuko is not always easy. To the day when the mystery of the past reappears.
Three years after the brilliant adaptation of “Children of the Sea”, Japanese director Ayumu Watanabe returns with a lucky smile to adapt the novel by Ms. Nikuko, Kanako Nish, to whom we also owe the novel. Saraba For which he won the 152nd Naoki Prize, which awards the best works of popular Japanese literature.
With a La Chance smile, Madame Nikuko portrays a mother like no other and her teenage daughter. The age when a person is not always gentle with parents.
The young Kikurin, the narrator of the story, seems to see only the shortcomings of this extravagant and naive mother, who is overly fond of food and bad boys. She also imagines her mother as a fleshy woman who explodes every time she thinks about food.
The film gradually reveals the relationship between this gentle mother-child duo and deals with the transition to adulthood: rivalry at school, first emotions, relationship with the body, first periods, feelings of awkwardness and shame that sometimes parents can. We feel …
The film introduces Nikuko’s story slowly with great kindness and makes the character more and more excited and attractive. The key is to uncover the secret that connects these two creatures.
Famous technical team
Ayumu Watanabe began his career at Studio Mates in 1986 before moving to Shin-Ei Animation, where he worked on television anime series. Doraemon. He also directs some episodes of the hit series Ace Attorney.
Recognition comes with a 12-episode miniseries after the rain, broadcast by Prime Video. The latter continues the Netflix-based series Comey is looking for his words. Released in July 2019, Children of the Sea This is his first feature film.
Luck smiles on Madame Nikuko was produced by Japanese comedian and presenter San Akashi, who fell in love with the story and wanted to turn it into a feature film.
The film is released under the 4 ° C studio flag, which we owe to Princess Aretha Sunao Katabucci, The Animatrix (a co-production of Warner Bros.), Mind Game by Masaaki Yuasa (6-time winner at Fantasia International Film Festival) or even Amer Beton Michael Arias .
Kenich is an animation director in Konya. He gritted his teeth in Ghibli, directing the animated films Sato Connie’s “My Neighbors Yamada,” “The Fairy Tale of Princess Kaguya,” and “The Godfathers of Tokyo.” The latter has already collaborated with Ayumu Watanabe Doraemon and Children of the Sea.His unique style and his technique (he uses brushes and brushes) have a huge impact on the Japanese animation industry.
“A film that gives hope of existence”
Luck Smiles at Madame Nikuko combines classic animation with more cartoon moments, especially when Ninomia, Kikurin’s friend, shows up.
The director explains:I wanted to make the most of the freedom that animation gives us and free myself from the classic framework imposed on drawings. Because I believe that this sense of freedom makes it possible to overcome the tragedy of content thanks to the charm of the characters.
Also, because Nikuko is the most caring and hospitable person, he constantly carries the audience. My goal was to get the latter “there is no such character” on stage “I want him to exist”. It is a film that evokes the hope of existence and not a film that speaks of existence. “
A feminist story
The feature film is adapted from the work of a novelist Kanako NishMe and has strong female characters, while a few male characters (Sasani, restaurant chief and young Ninomi) are secondary.
If a young curcumin is cautious, serious, and anxious about what others think, his mother, by contrast, does not go unnoticed and looks carefree.
It is rare for such a character to be the star of an animated film. The director writes in the film press team:I think this is the first time such an unusual character has played in a Japanese animated film. If the viewer is satisfied with the observation of Nikuko’s figure, this may make the film less attractive. But it does matter. Where is the true value of man? Where is true love hidden? That’s what Nikuko teaches us. And if at the beginning of the movie there was a chance to make fun of his physics, I’m sure you will fall in love with him at the end.“
Because this extravagant, spontaneous, and greedy woman has a heart in her hand, her naivete makes her a charming character whom we want to protect and love.
The feature film also deals with important topics such as the transition to adulthood and the first period. A topic that is rarely discussed in animated cinema (it refers to Pixar’s latest film, Red Alert).
This immersion in the intimate life of these two women perfectly captures the scene that tells the story of Nikiko’s youth. We then understand the whole generosity and kindness of the character.
The filmmaker chose to place this scene 20 minutes before the end of the film in order to “dAvoid overly classic conclusions and create something new that will have a mutually exclusive effect will give the viewer the pleasure of learning more through cleverly hidden details while gradually absorbing this shock of revelation.“.
Watanabe adds:
Through all of this I wanted to portray the unconscious legacy between parents and children that is hidden in everyday acts. By gathering these trifles that we do not normally pay attention to, the film chooses to get as close as possible to the reality of this relationship.
Winked at Totoro
Several times Kikurin compares his mother to Totoro, the protagonist of the Hayao Miyazaki feature film, My Neighbor Totoro. Ayumu Watanabe explains that he is a big fan of Jibli, the connection between Nikuko and Totoro was then clearly visible during the presentation of the preliminary drawings.
He emphasizes: “At the bus stop in front of the shrine in the scene: I tried to introduce Nikuko’s own fantastic elements a little more under the sign of Deja Vu. In the awakening scene, at the beginning: I wanted one or two spectators in the room to laugh a little when the hint was noticed, nothing more.“
Shinji Kimura, the film’s artistic director, explains that he was inspired by a scene inspired by my neighbor Totoro:Where Nikuko and Kikurin stand next to each other at a bus stop. This is a Totoro bus stop scene that I painted myself 30 years ago. It was a small moment of nostalgia that made me happy. “
La Chance smiles at Madame Nico, who is coming out in theaters this Wednesday, June 8th.
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
